Insights, guides & briefings.
Working papers from our directors on cross-border structuring, banking, licensing, mobility and tax. Long-form guides for the topics that repay careful reading; short briefings when the news moves.
Tier-by-tier diagrams of holding stacks, funds, trusts, licensed entities and asset vehicles — with the tax drivers and the failure points.
Browse the library →The brief, the structure we built, the sequence of steps, the timeline and the fee model — real files, identifying detail removed.
Read the files →Results
EU payment rails in 2026: EMI, PI, CASP — and which one you actually need
Founders routinely apply for the wrong European licence and lose eighteen months finding out. EMI, payment institution, CASP and the incoming PSD3 perimeter authorise different things, cost different amounts and open different banking doors. This guide maps activity to licence, and licence to rails.
Most fintech licences fail at the bank, not at the regulator
Most fintech founders assume the regulator is the hard part. In practice, the FCA, MFSA, DFSA or CBB will approve on paper — and the acquiring bank will then decline on evidence. Safeguarding accounts, settlement banking and card-scheme sponsorship are where EMI and PSP applications quietly collapse. This is what a bankable licence file actually looks like in 2026.
Every insight starts as a real client file.
If a piece here maps to your situation, the fastest next step is a director call — written diagnosis in five business days, fixed-fee from the first line.